Organizational Growth

One-on-One Meeting Template and Guide

Early in my career, my boss recommended that I meet regularly with each of my direct reports. In other words, I should do a one-on-one meeting with my team. He knew it would both improve their productivity and improve my relationship and influence with my team members.

I thought it was a great idea! And since I wanted the time to be as productive as possible, I spent weeks trying to figure out how to structure the meetings and when to schedule them.

Looking back – I wasted a lot of valuable time trying to set up and agenda for the “perfect” meeting. Which was a futile effort from the outset – because I was going to be part of the meeting – and I’m far from perfect!

So I did the one thing that I knew would get me going. I asked my assistant to put the One-on-One Meeting on my calendar. She scheduled them so I would have two weeks to get ready for my first meeting. So, here’s what I did…

5 Essential Character Traits of Great Team Members

The 5 Essential Character Traits of Great Team Members is a guest post by Rebecca Livermore. Rebecca is the founder of Professional Content Creation and the author of several books including the new book, Blogger’s Quick Guide to Working with a Team.

I’ll admit straight-up that I’m a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of person. My mantra has long been – Take initiative! Just do it! You’re responsible for your own success!

While I still believe that initiative and hard work are incredibly important, I had to own up to the fact that my do-it-myself personality impeded my growth and the success of my business.

Herbert Hoover beat the drum of rugged individualism during his presidency. He believed that the government’s involvement in the financial affairs of ordinary citizens would impede their growth. His fear was that if the government bailed people out during the Great Depression, people would lose initiative.

And if you’re trying to build your business or blog all on your own, it’s time to accept the fact that alone you’ll only be a fraction of the success that you could be with the help of others.

I know – the challenge is that it can take up to three years to fully integrate new members to the team. So it’s essential to hire the right team members.

One of the best ways to do so is to hire people of character. Here are 5 essential character traits to look for when hiring team members for your team…

Job Description – 5 Reasons Your Team Needs It

The Job Description – 5 Reasons Your Team Needs It is a guest post by Dr. Ryan Hartwig. Ryan is co-author of Teams That Thrive and associate professor of communication at Azusa Pacific University. Find him online at ryanhartwig.com and on Twitter.

What if every team in your organization had a job description? What if every team had clarity about the team’s purpose, and how that purpose was different from other teams and individuals in the organization?

In today’s world, it’s common for most positions in organizations to have a written job description. The job description provides focus, clarifies expectations, delineates qualifications for job candidates, and outlines the criteria for performance evaluation.

But what about teams?

Obstacles – 3 Ways to Handle Them at Work

This week while traveling, I had conversations with several people about how tempting it is to compartmentalize areas of life like OBSTACLES. Maybe it helps us feel better about ourselves. Maybe it puts problem areas in a neat little box so we can push them out of sight and out of mind.

Think about this – OBSTACLES are inevitable. They’re a natural part of life and work. Right?

So, if they are to be expected, even unavoidable, why the need to label them?

The fact that we label obstacles makes them scary. Conjures up anxiety.

What if we simply viewed them as a part of life – and a part of our work?

Obstacles occur to help you determine if you really believe in the vision.

Yet most people never get past the obstacle. So they never accomplish their dream. They never live out the vision.

So today, when you face obstacles – and you will – here are 3 ways to handle them…

1. Quit calculating the size of the obstacle and remember the size of your vision. Keep your eye on the vision. Focus on it. Fanatically.
2. Find a solution instead of letting the obstacle become an excuse.
3. Prepare for future obstacles. If they stop you, you will never breakthrough. You’ll never experience the miracle. And your vision is worth it.

Your life matters immensely. And your work matters. So don’t give up. Don’t quit. Not today.

What obstacle are you facing that you need to move past today?

Need More Margin? 4 Ways to Get it Fast

How do we get more margin? Every leader wants the team to maximize efficiency. And in this quest for efficiency and productivity some team members can become so overwhelmed that there’s no possible way to get everything done.

The resulting frustration can be devastating to morale and retention.